One of the myths about chiropractors that I always hear is that once you go to a chiropractor you have to go for the rest of your life. When you think about it, the same could be said for your gym, or even your dentist for that matter. The fact of the matter is that human beings are dynamic so there is never a point in our lives that we will be completely devoid of stress. Just like there is never a point where we will be able to stop eating healthy nutritional foods, or taking care of our oral hygiene by brushing and keeping our teeth healthy. The reason that this myth exists is that usually the underlying cause of the problem is never dealt with, therefore people have to keep going for crisis or symptom relief care.
Most chiropractors are very good at providing short-term or temporary pain relief for things like neck pain and back pain. In other words, they are focus on symptom relief, and really nothing more. While most of these folks are very good at this type of care, often-times it doesn’t typically focus the needed attention on the underlying cause of the problem. Most of the time these symptoms are signs of a much deeper issue which will worsen the longer the underlying cause remains untreated.
Unlike traditional chiropractors, our practice is quite different. Rather than focusing on treating and temporarily reducing symptoms, we focus on something called structural correction. This means that we use several different objective measures to detect and correct structural shifts in the spinal column, also known as structural abnormalities. What we find is that structural abnormalities in the human structural framework (spinal column and pelvis) are responsible for causing a wide variety of secondary conditions…what you may know as symptoms. Structural problems do this by putting abnormal stress on soft tissues, bones, and discs, as well interrupting the sending and receiving of signals, or messages, over the communication pathway for the body’s internal operating system (central nervous system) which is housed in the spinal column. Once these spinal abnormalities are located and we believe you are a good candidate for what we do, an objective and measurable plan of care with objective measurable outcomes is designed to specifically correct and neurologically stabilize the spine closer to what is considered “Normal” structure. Not only does this correct the structure but it allows the body’s internal operating system (central nervous system) to function UN-interrupted.
To achieve this outcome we typically see patients (depending on the specific case) at an intense frequency for a short period of time. This ensures that the cause of the problem is addressed and that you do not have to rely upon us for symptomatic pain relief, for a worsening condition, for the rest of your life. Once we have achieved our objective goals and the patient is experiencing better health, they have to option of choosing a protection plan at a much less frequency in order to protect their hard work and investment. The frequency of care at this point depends on the individual patient. Again, this is completely up to the patient whether or not they continue care at this point. Some patients will require more frequent visits to protect their results depending on what they put their body through outside of the office on a daily basis, while others may require rather infrequent checks (and if need be adjustments) because we find they can protect their results with things they are able to do at home. An example similar to this is someone who has been going to the gym for the last 6 months and has lost 70 lbs to get down to their ideal weight. Rather than just stopping eating healthy and working out, the smart logical thing to do would be to adopt a plan to protect the investment they have made in those last 6 months. This will allow this person to protect the amazing results they have gotten, but at a much lesser frequency and intensity.
If you would like to schedule a complementary consultation (just a conversation, NOT an examination) to see if what we do is the right solution for you, please call 515-964-9644.
Dr. Matt Bohnenkamp
SUMMIT Chiropractic
102 SE 30th St. Suite #1
Ankeny, IA 50021
P: 515-964-9644
Email: summitchiroclinic@gmail.com